Claimed (6 page)

Sorvar’s savage thrusts forced her forward on the bed, his hips slamming into hers in a frantic bid for release. So much strength, so much power. He could crush her if he wasn’t careful. Tina’s belly fluttered, but the fear didn’t have a chance to take hold. Her scream and the deafening roar of her mate filled his quarters as they rushed headlong into the oblivion of release.

Sorvar’s venom caused no pain this time, just a warmth that spread through her. The tightly coiled thing in Tina’s belly woke and stretched, unfurling to fill her with a pleasant tingling sensation that spread to every corner of her being.

She slumped against the bed, gasping as she shuddered in the residual waves of release. Her body felt like a cooked noodle, but she smiled, and a little breathless giggle escaped her. She could get used to sex like that. Maybe Sorvar claiming her wasn’t such a terrible thing after all, but she wasn’t ready to let go of her anger just yet.

For some reason, she could
feel
the swell of satisfaction pouring off Sorvar deep in her chest like a fluffy ball of warmth and the still-hard length of his erection filling her. It was a little strange to be able to feel what he was feeling, but somehow it was right. Somehow it was supposed to be like this, as if there had always been an empty part inside her that he’d now filled.

Was this what he meant by their souls joining? She should be furious with him for not telling her this was going to happen, but for some reason... she wasn’t. She was right. Things
had
changed. A fundamental shift was happening inside her, and Tina was too sated to fight it. Tomorrow she’d analyse what had changed. Right now she was just going to enjoy Sorvar. There would be plenty of time to be angry later.

Sorvar wasn’t completely sated. His need coiled in her gut, sharp and insistent, but she detected something else as well. He was almost concerned or worried. Maybe he thought he’d hurt her. Some species could only couple once a night. With others, their breeding cycles dictated how often they could couple. Humans, however, were one of the lucky species who could go all night, every night. The Morgath were another by the look of things.

“What do you find so amusing,
pavri?
” Sorvar asked as he nuzzled her neck.

He’d called her beloved. A gentle warmth spread through her chest. Tina pressed her hips back against her mate, feeling his cock flex inside her, and his groan rumbled against her, sending little spasms of pleasure through her. She could definitely get used to this.

“How much do you know about my species?” Tina asked, trying hard not to laugh as Sorvar stood frozen behind her. His cock—thick and hard—pulsed with pent-up need inside her.

“Not a lot. Information about humans is encrypted and only given to those who need to heal you. With so little information about your species available, my people have avoided seeking out your females, but you tasted so good, I would have risked anything to have you.”

A little sigh gusted out of Tina as more warmth spread through her chest.

“Well, handsome, for your information, we can mate all night with little repercussion. So if you’re so inclined, you’re more than welcome to use that monstrosity you call a cock and fuck me again.”

The flexing of his shaft inside her drew a pleasurable groan from her.

“Monstrosity?” he demanded.

“Yes, Sorvar. You’re fucking huge, and feel better than anyone I’ve ever been with. Now shut up and move or get off so I can take care of myself,” she commanded wiggling her hips again.

A welter of his conflicting emotions curled through her and another giggle burst from her.
That snagged his attention, didn’t it?

“You can do that? Pleasure yourself?”

Oh, yeah, he was definitely curious.

“Yep,” she replied, amusement lacing her voice. “And if you hurry up and fuck me again, I’ll be happy to show you everything I know about the pleasures of the flesh.”

He might have been a virgin until a few minutes ago, but he sure caught on quick. A grunt and he ground his hips against her, then started a long, slow stroking that lit up every nerve ending inside her like fireworks on New Year’s Eve.

Tina snuggled into Sorvar. She could get used to this. She had never been one to cuddle after sex, not wanting the men she coupled with to think there was any chance of a relationship or any kind of emotional attachment on her part.

But after four rounds of sex and two showers in the weird energy shower, she didn’t have the energy to stop Sorvar when he pulled her against him. Naked and plastered against his side, with his wing stretched out under her, she found his warmth was almost uncomfortable in the already humid room.

She let out a sigh, her body relaxing completely for the first time since he’d bitten her. Part of her said she should be furious with Sorvar for everything he’d done, but she kept pushing it away.

She would never have felt like this with the men she had been with in the past. They had always made her feel jumpy and aggressive. But something about Sorvar filled her up on the inside, something settled the fiercely independent streak she had. Although she had little control over what was going to happen, for once, she wasn’t stressed about it, and she was finding the lack of stress nice. More than nice in fact, it was... lovely.

Sorvar was resting under her, his heart beating at a steady pace, but inside her, a light warmness and something else she didn’t know how to interpret filled her chest. Maybe with time she’d learn all of his emotions. He was doing a good impression of a cat, though. It wouldn’t surprise her if he started purring.

She stroked with gentle fingers across the slightly rough scales around his sides. When he’d finally removed his clothes after the second time they’d had sex, the scales hadn’t surprised her. They covered his sides from his under arms, down his ribs, across his back and down both of his thighs.

Unlike hers, which were a few shades lighter than her skin, Sorvar’s were still the deep green they had been before his change. They matched his deep green wings and complimented his new human skin, which was a beautiful deep gold. With his black hair and yellow eyes, he looked striking and exotic.

He seemed to be just as fascinated with her scales as she was with his. He hadn’t stopped stroking them since he pulled her against him.

Every part of her transformation had hurt. Thanks to Doctor Tragesh, she’d spent most of it unconscious. Had Sorvar spent his transformation the same way? Or did the Morgath suffer through their transformations feeling every agonising change?

“Doctor Tragesh told me my change was the fastest ever recorded. I take it three weeks isn’t how long a normal transformation takes?” Tina asked Sorvar after they’d lain together for a while.

She didn’t need to ask, but she wanted to question him about his change, and this was a good way to bring up the topic without asking him outright. He might blame her for the speed of their change. He could be angry about it and hold a grudge. For some reason, it was painfully important that he had accepted it.

Why did it matter so much? God, how could she expect him not to be angry, when she was angry with him? She was such a hypocrite. Tina clenched her hand into a fist where it rested against Sorvar’s side, her stomach churning. She shouldn’t have asked. She should have just enjoyed their quiet time together.

“Yes,” Sorvar answered cutting off her thoughts. “A female usually takes at least six months to change. There is usually no sign of any changes for the first month. It takes that long for the venom we inject to attack and alter the DNA. The changes happen gradually as the body renews itself into its new form. We heal fast, and we pass that ability on to our mates, so they heal as they change. If we didn’t pass the ability on, more of them would die during the change.”

Tina shuddered against him. Right, she remembered Doctor Tragesh mentioning something about females dying, but she thought he said they committed suicide.

“So, if a female’s change takes six months, how long does a male’s change take?” Her voice came out sounding shaky and hesitant. She
really
shouldn’t have asked. Could she even handle his answers?

There had been no information in the data burst she’d received from the learning pod about the change the males went through. Nobody outside of the Morgath people themselves had ever seen it, but she did want to know.

Sorvar went stiff underneath her, and her stomach rolled. Heat crept up her neck and across her cheeks. She pushed up on her arm and looked down at him, but he turned his face away and wouldn’t look at her. He was... embarrassed or ashamed. Tina’s chest tightened, and this time, it was her own emotion, not his.

She had a pretty good idea why he felt the way he did, and she was having none of it. She wanted to growl at whoever had made him feel this way. Nobody had the right to belittle someone who was in pain, or make them feel embarrassed or ashamed.

“You know, I broke my arm and my leg in an accident when I was ten,” she said looking down at his chest, her hand pressed right over his pounding heart. “It was the most excruciatingly painful thing I’d ever had happen to me until you bit me. When I was in Medical going through the change, every time I woke up, I screamed and screamed and screamed. In the end, Doctor Tragesh had to sedate me, because I was drawing a crowd, and people on the station thought they were torturing me.”

He turned back to look at her, and she lifted the hand she had resting on his chest to stroke his cheek. The skin of his face was soft under her fingertips, no harsh stubble to abrade her sensitive skin. His intelligent yellow gaze burned into hers as he searched her for something. What was he looking for?

“Sorvar, I don’t care if you screamed louder and longer than I did. Nothing that happened while you went through the change will make me think less of you, and I’ll stand against anyone who thinks screaming when you’re in that sort of pain is weak.”

A deep shudder rocked his body and he wrapped his massive arms around her, pulling her tight against him as he rolled to his side. He buried his head in her neck, enfolding them in his wings, enclosing them in his heat and scent. A pulse started low in Tina’s body, her blood heating to a low simmer. Now was not the time to feel aroused. Tina had never met a man who was so open with his emotions—she didn’t quite know what to do with Sorvar showing his vulnerability.

“How did you know?”

Sorvar’s voice was gravel, rough with emotion Tina could feel through their bond.

They were in pretty heavy territory for their first day of mating. Maybe it was time to lighten things a bit.

“It’s just me,” she replied. “I’m just awesome like that.”

It took a few moments, but then his body shook against hers and he chuckled against her neck.
Ah ha!
Warmth flooded her, starting in the centre of her chest and radiating out, and she grinned and snuggled into Sorvar, her thigh brushing against his soft shaft. This time, it was a groan that rumbled against her as his shaft rapidly filled. Again? She could go again.

Tina jerked when with his face still pressed against her neck, Sorvar said, “My father was not happy that I chose a mate, and he was even more displeased with the species of mate I chose. I’m sorry, Tina, but he’s not going to make our lives easy, and my brothers berated me for picking such a weak mate who has made me weak as well. That was why I wouldn’t let you cut your hair. Long hair is a sign of strength. My people measure the success of the change in the length of the male’s and female’s hair.”

She could feel a weight in her chest and a sharp roll of her stomach that made her queasy. Such a strong emotion. She couldn’t read him well enough yet to know what it was, but it was obvious it left him raw and exposed. Tina tensed, her nostrils flaring as she ground her teeth together. Those fucking bastards! Sorvar drew back to look at her.

“You are
not
weak,” she said, her hands balling into fists. “You’re seven-foot-tall, you have more muscle than any male I’ve ever seen, and I
know
you’re smart. Use those smarts to overcome whatever your father and brothers see as a weakness, Sorvar. Don’t let them put you down for going in search of happiness.”

He wrapped his hand around her face, tilting her up to look straight into his eyes, his grip just this side of being too tight.

“How do you know I’m smart?” he demanded.

Tina dragged herself up along his body until they were nose to nose. “I can see it in your eyes. You can overcome anything, Sorvar, if you put your mind to it.”

He stared back at her for a long time before a heavy warmth pulsed inside her. Whatever Sorvar was feeling, she’d never experienced before. It stroked her and set her heart pounding. Her breath caught at the heat in his eyes. Then he kissed her, ferocious and wild, making her head spin and her core clench in need.

Good god, he learned fast. He’d gone from never having kissed a female a few short hours before to curling her toes and having her panting. He kissed his way over to her neck, a rough hand fisting in her now loose hair. He tilted her head, and his hot wet tongue stroked down her neck, a low growl rumbling out of him. Tina clutched at his shoulders, her body trembling with the furious need swirling inside, her nails digging into his firm flesh.

“Sorvar,” she panted, then groaned low. She wouldn’t beg, she refused, but damn if he was making it impossible not to.

Sharp teeth bit down on her shoulder, right where he’d claimed her. The now healed and scarred bite mark was exquisitely sensitive, as he’d discovered the two other times he’d bitten her after he’d claimed her. A deep shudder wracked Tina as a little whimper slipped out. Heat flooded her cheeks—such a helpless, needy sound that he could drag from her. She gasped as she flexed against his hold, needing to get closer, needing to feel the hot hard length of his cock inside her. Her core rippled and clenched, the throb of her clit sending spasms through her.

Sorvar released her shoulder as he rolled to his back, taking her with him, rearranging her as he went with firm hands on her hips. He opened his wings, giving him room to manoeuvre her and cooling her a little as the fresher air of their quarters hit the hot skin and scales of her back and bottom. Then he was pulling her down onto the hot hard length of his cock. He pushed into her in one long slow slide. A low growl rumbled through his chest, sending shockwaves of pleasure through her that tightened her core around the hard intrusion of his cock.